La tecnologia della produzione ceramica nel Bronzo medio siciliano: il caso dei pithoi di Monte San Paolillo (Catania)

The technological features of sicilian middle Bronze age pottery, represented by the production of Thapsos type, has been in general largely neglected due to the lack of overall studies on ceramic complexes coming from recent excavations. Besides the evidence of the materials found in the explorations carried out in the past century by Paolo orsi in the territory of syracuse and published according to the scientific standards of that time, new significant data have been added by the exploration of the site of monte san Paolillo, in the suburb of Catania. here, a settlement of Thapsos period has been discovered with a rich assemblages of pottery, also including, for the first time, mycenaean and maltese imports. among the pottery classes identified, a very important evidence is represented by a group of pithoi on which a specific study of every steps of productive procedure has been carried out with the support of petrographic analyses. The fabrics identified testify specific strategies for selecting clays and experiments about addition of tempers in order to enhance the technical level of this specialized production. While the typological variety can be interpreted both with a strong link with the early Bronze age tradition and with a probable functional distinction between the types. in the cultural scenario of middle Bronze age sicily, characterized by a general scarcity of published data about settlements, the evidence of monte san Paolillo and its pithoi can also add relevant information also about economic policy of indigenous communities.